Gizmodo

A Russian city reportedly observed a rise in radiation levels after an explosion at a nearby military testing site, which left at least two dead.Read more...

In the final days of the Obama administration, the Department of Transportation formed a committee to advise on the emerging technology of self-driving cars. For whatever reason, the Trump administration didn’t see the point.Read more...

Buy Committee, it’s me again, ya boy Tercius. I need your help (again).

There are lots of free apps and widgets for Windows and MacOS that can quickly hide a work distraction (like YouTube or Facebook) from your boss or co-workers, but they assume you’re always paying close attention to who’s walking by your desk. The Daytripper does that all for you, using a laser tripwire that…Read more...

Archaeologists working in the Bale Mountains of Ethiopia have uncovered the earliest evidence to date of human habitation in a high-altitude environment. Living over 11,000 feet above sea level, these early mountaineers ate rodents to survive the harsh ice age conditions.

MoviePass’ reality TV-level spiral from a promising startup to absolute shitshow hits all the markers for poor business management and abysmal consumer-facing service. But according to a new report, MoviePass’ also intentionally disrupted its own service by changing user passwords and activating a so-called “trip…Read more...

When Apple announced that its promised multi-device AirPower charging pad was officially been canceled, people immediately began wondering what might take its place. After all, just because Apple had given up, that didn’t mean people didn’t want a simple and convenient way to recharge a range of Apple products.Read more...

Karl-Heinz Urban is good. His sneers are excellent, his range extends from grandiose to gritty, his look is fine, and his appearances in Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys are numerous. But which version of Karl Urban is the best Karl Urban? Who among the Karls Urban is supreme?

It felt confusing and excited when Ikea released two new speakers built by Sonos. They’re a little weird-looking, first of all. (One speaker is also a lamp!) But what’s really extraordinary is that Ikea is now selling a full-fledged Sonos speaker for $100. (It doubles as a shelf!) We tested this new Sonos speaker—the…Read more...

A 62-year-old Canadian woman ended up with painful second-degree burns on her genitals after she attempted an at-home vaginal steaming, according to a case report. Ultimately, it delayed the reconstructive surgery she needed to treat an earlier vaginal injury.Read more...

In July, a 17-year-old high school student in China was sticking protective film over 3,000 Amazon Echo dots a day at the Foxconn factory in Hengyang. She was working ten hours a day and six days a week. And she was among more than 1,000 students employed by the factory to work overtime on Amazon’s devices.

Scientists found evidence of dust produced in nearby supernovae hiding under a thousand pounds of Antarctic snow, according to new research.

Last month, two YouTube celebrities, Tana Mongeau and Jake Paul, got “married” in an extremely messy ceremony that literally ended in a fist-fight. Court documents confirming their betrothal have yet to surface—and they won’t, as Mongeau has recently made clear the pair didn’t get married “on paper.” But there are…Read more...

Wondering if you’ll get approved for the Apple Card? Turns out you probably don’t have to. Goldman Sachs, the bank issuing the card, is reportedly approving applications from subprime applicants, according to CNBC.Read more...

Researchers presenting at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas this week demonstrated a relatively simple way to break into someone’s iPhone Face ID—so long as they’re completely conked out.Read more...

An amateur astronomer in Texas captured a rare sight earlier this week when an apparent meteor slammed into Jupiter’s thick upper atmosphere.

Anker SoundCore Ace A1 Bluetooth Speaker | $13 | AmazonRead more...

Losing the remote is less of a catastrophe these days with TVs that can be controlled using your phone or your voice, but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for improvement: Researchers at Purdue University have developed a way to turn any fabric into a simple electronic device, so your favorite sweatpants for…Read more...

After a U.S. crackdown forced Huawei to imagine a future without access Android, the Chinese smartphone giant began working on its own alternative to Google’s ubiquitous mobile OS. Now, at the company’s annual developer conference, Huawei has finally shared the first official details on its homegrown alternative to…Read more...

The solid-state drive or SSD has evolved from an expensive luxury available only to the professional power user to standard issue for anyone picking up a laptop. At the same time, many more standards and technologies have developed around SSDs, meaning picking one isn’t as straightforward as it once was—but we’re…Read more...

Kealoha Pisciotta used to journey up Mauna Kea in Hawaii for work. A Native Hawaiian (or Kanaka Maoli), Pisciotta worked at the Joint Astronomy Center for some 12 years helping tune and care for the telescope instruments. She liked her job and aspired to become a cosmologist someday, studying the galaxies for a…Read more...

Quentin Tarantino thinks his tenth and ever-purportedly final film could dip into the horror genre. The Walking Dead has found its Dante. Colton Haynes clarifies his Arrow exit. Not one, but two denials come out against some Doctor Who rumors. Plus, Constantine is a major part of Legends of Tomorrow’s next season.…Read more...

In this week’s tech-advice column, we’re tackling one of the oldest and most common questions—we see it around the web, and are pestered about by friends and loved ones again and again: “My computer is slow and I don’t know how to make it faster again.”Read more...

Choosing the best sunscreen is already a daunting task, what with the myriad of confusing SPF options, sprays, sticks, and lotions, mineral versus chemical, water-resistant or sheer, and so on. The task has only been made more confusing in the past few years as new (and often expensive) sunscreens have begun to market…Read more...

Zero Grid Electronics Travel Organizer | $12 | Clip $1 coupon and use promo code VGR85KUN

On Thursday the Trump administration authorized another weapon in America’s war on the hoards of 30 to 50 feral hogs running through yards and terrorizing our nation’s children: “cyanide bombs.”

When Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced he planned to pack up two Agriculture Department agencies from their D.C. offices and relocate them to Kansas City, critics warned there’d be fallout. And that brain drain’s extent became all too clear Wedn, the Washington Post reported, as the USDA began preparing…Read more...

This week, while discussing the OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes’ special episode that saw the heroes of Turbo Plaza teaming up with Sonic the Hedgehog and his friend-who-is-just-a friend Tails, series creator Ian Jones-Quartey quietly announced a bit of news that nobody wanted to hear.Read more...

New evidence shows that Goliath frogs—the world’s largest species of frog—construct their own ponds, providing a safe space for their tadpoles to grow.

Ring, the smart doorbell home security system Amazon bought for over $1 billion last year, is involved in some fairly unnerving arrangements with local law enforcement agencies. Wouldn’t you like to know if the cops in your town are among them?

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is soliciting technology firms to build a tool that can monitor social media for threats.Read more...

GPS has done wonders for the directionally challenged, but there’s still a few quirks. Every time I emerge from the stinky depths of the New York City subway, for instance, my phone’s compass takes forever to figure out which direction I’m pointed in. Half the time I end up walking a few blocks in the wrong direction,…Read more...

People who live with chronic migraines but also love coffee might be in luck. A new study by Harvard researchers seems to show that it takes a lot of caffeine to actually set off a painful episode. They found that people who drank fewer than three caffeinated beverages in a day weren’t more likely to have a migraine…Read more...

Well, well, well! If it isn’t our beleaguered rideshare giant Uber reporting yet another quarter of continued losses after its disastrous IPO earlier this year. In its earnings report released Thursday, the company said it burned through more than $5 billion—its largest losses to date.Read more...

In the run-up to the next Made By Google event typically held later in the fall, Google has already shared the first official picture of the Pixel 4, along with info on all the fancy sensors and tech stashed inside its top bezel.Read more...

An outbreak of a rare infection at a western New York hospital in 2018 was sparked by a nurse’s opioid use disorder, a new case report out Thursday seems to confirm. The nurse is alleged to have taken intravenous opioid painkillers for her own personal use, replacing the fluid she took with water—water that turned out…Read more...

When you think of Star Wars, you think of lightsabers. Sure, you think of spaceships and the Force and stuff like that too but, in terms of iconic visuals, few things in science fiction at large, let alone Star Wars, are as iconic as the lightsaber.

Grains and water from Chernobyl’s dreaded exclusion zone have been used to produce a single bottle of vodka. Called ATOMIK, the vodka could revolutionize the way land is reclaimed in the radioactive region surrounding the beleaguered nuclear power plant.

After a gunman opened fire at an El Paso Walmart on Saturday killing 22, and a manifesto posted online believed to be written by the shooter exalted previous mass shootings and referenced the “Hispanic invasion of Texas,” the link between real-world violence and extremist forums is being further scrutinized.

Not so long ago, the idea of a cheap 4K TV felt like a dream. Now that the market is flooded with them, there’s a new aspiration for a cheap 4K TV that performs like a much more expensive flagship. That’s the value proposition that Vizio has offered for years, although the approach has seemed gimmicky at times. The…Read more...

Marshall Kilburn II Portable Bluetooth Speaker | $240 | AmazonRead more...

When you log into Netflix one of the first things you see is a list of recommended shows. Sometimes its new episodes of shows you’ve liked and rated well. Often, it’s a whole myriad of shows you’ve never heard of or are only tangentially aware of. And if you’re like me one of those shows that Netflix repeatedly…Read more...

The Food and Drug Administration announced this week that it is investigating 127 reports of seizures or other neurological issues that may be linked to the use of e-cigarettes, a figure that has expanded by nearly 100 since the agency first announced its probe back in April.Read more...

When Apple released the iPhone 7 in 2016, without a headphone jack, many customers were miffed that they had to use headphones designed for a lightning port or buy a dongle, and couldn’t charge their phone and use headphones at the same time.

REI Outlet is always a good place to look for top quality brands at closeout prices, but that’s especially true during the site’s back to school sale.

After getting announced earlier this spring, Apple is finally starting to invite customers to try out its new credit card this week. And while the Apple Card’s rewards aren’t all the impressive compared to high-end cards from Chase and Citi, for anyone intrigued by the card’s privacy features or deeply invested in…Read more...

After releasing a simple dongle that finally let the Nintendo Switch connect to wireless headphones, Human Things is back with another product that vastly improves the console’s portability. The Genki Covert Dock replaces the Switch’s charger and TV dock with a streamlined wall adapter that does everything.Read more...

Amazon is well known for its sprawling Fulfillment Centers and the lackluster working conditions therein, but just as important to its logistics operations are its delivery hubs—smaller, and often staffed heavily with part-time workers. Likely emboldened by the flurry of labor actions at the infamous Shakopee…Read more...

In a move that fails to surprise anyone, the U.S. Navy has killed its Task Force Climate Change. This happened back in March but remained mostly a rumor until E&E News reported the news Wednesday.Read more...

You don’t always have to squint at a 6-inch screen and tap out your communications on a little touch keyboard. Most messaging apps now let you use your laptop or desktop computer as well as your phone. Here are all the options you’ve got across SMS, iMessage, WhatsApp, and more.